Channeled strip such as curtain rods or the like



Juiy 1 1924.

C. W. KIRSCH CHANNELED STRIP SUCH AS CURTAIN RODS OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 4, 1924 mu m om.MOM.mmmuonm Patented July 1, 4e24,

W. SCH, 0F STURGIS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 li CE MAHUFAGTUR me CORWANY, OF S'I'URGIS, MIGHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICG-AN.

EID STRIP SUCH. AS

CURTAIN RODS 0R TE 3.; 1-8;?

Application filed February 4, 1924. Serial No. 690,519.

To all whom it may concern.

, Be it mownthat I, Crrhnnns W. KIRSOE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Stur 'is, in the county of St. Joseph oandState of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Channeled Strips Such as urtain Rods or the like, of which the following is a specification. to I This invention relates to the manufacture of articles, such as curtain rods and the like, from sheet-metals of all kinds Where the nature of such articles is such that they must, at least in part,be formed of what is 36 known as dead-soft stock but wherein other parts may be more advantageously composed of a metalpossessing temper or its equivalent in order that the last named portions thereof may possess greater strength t and rigidity and may, therefore, be made of a very much thinner stock than Wouldother- Y wise be required, The main object of the invention is, therefore, to provide sheet metal articles such as Q5 curtain-rods or channeled strips which, in

ordinary use, are required to withstand substantially predetermined loads or stresses without becoming distorted and without sagging, from stock or blanks normally unan suited but rendered adaptable for the manuitacture of such articles as above named, of a single piece of material, which stock or blanks is or are, respectively, of difierent degrees of hardness over different surface 85 areas to thereby permit sharp bending or iolg of parts of the metal without breaking the same and permitting the forming of other portions thereof to curvatures as distinguished from sharp angles,

A further object of the invention is to provide sheet metal articles of the kind specified, wherein the temper, or its equivalent, is produced and regulated or controlled in degree by surface ornamentation mechani- 4 cally applied thereto, to thereby render the articles far more attractive in appearance and lighter in weight proportionate to strength thereoi than is true of such articles when made of dead-soft stock through- 63 out,

The foregoing objects comprehend their accomplishment in a simple, cheap and practicable manner.

The invention consistsin the product possessing the aforesaid characteristics as hereinafter fully described and claimed. The invention is particularly illustrated in its accompanying drawings as embodied to best adapt them for the performance of their intended functions.

in the accompanying drawings illustratin the inventiona igs. 1v and 2 are, respectively, a fragmentary perspective view and a transverse sectlon of a curtain rod made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the blank or strip from which the rod is formed;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 and Figs. 7, 8 and 9, are, respectively, views similar to Figs, 1, 2 and =3, illustrative of other embodiments of the invention.

In said drawin l have illustrated a very popular t pe 0 made of-p ain, smooth metal), the same being ornamented embodiments of any or all curtain rod (heretofore ill of the curtain rods illustrated in the catalog No. 11 of Kirsch Manufacturing Company,

01 Sturgis, Michigan, which is on file in the United States Patent Ofice (said rods being also shown in a number of Letters Patent of the United States Nos. 1,187,914, 1,240,- 582,1,245,354, 1,250,190, 1,488,25c, 1,4s8,257, 1,488,258, 1,494,427, 1,494,428, 1,494,429 and 1,494,430), and difiering in structural characteristics from all except Patent No. 1,494,430 only with respect to the double thickness of the flanges bordering the longitudinal slot in one wall of the rod, said double-thick flan. ed structure being disclosed in Patent 0. 1,494,430.

The rods, generally termed flat as distinguished from the cylindrical or round type, comprise each, a fiat front wall A, substantially semi-cylindrical side edges B which terminate in opposed flan es substantially parallel with the Wall and having their free edges bordering the continuous slot D extending from end to end of the rod. Said free edges of said flan as C- are of double thicess, being so me e by folding over the extreme edge portions E thereof, the structural advantages resulting from this double thickness being fully disclosed in said Letters Patent No. 1,494,430.

In practice it has been found ve difficult to produce rods having said dou le thick edged flanges for the reason that stock other than dead-soft would crack and break in the bending or folding operations. The necessity of using such dead-soft stock because of the very desirable structural feature last mentioned also necessitated the use of very heavy stock in order to provide sufficient stiffness and rigidity in the rod enerally to adapt it to the ordinary conditions of use, the tempered .stock, such as half hard brass, for example, bein far preferable to the soft stock because of its greater strength and resiliency, which resists distortion of all kinds. It has been found impossible to so bend or fold the sheet steel used for the manufacture of the cheaper rods. This might be accomplished by the prohibitively expensive methods of annealing, forming and retempering with its attendant additional operations to correct war ing andthe surface effects of heat, but suc method is wholly impracticable aside from the expense attached thereto.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the invention is particularly applicable to remedy conditions similar to those above described, wherein the body of an article of manufacture is most advantageously made of a hard, tempered stock which will not ermit of sharp bending, folding or the like,

ut a part or parts of which require the use of a very soft metal which will lend itself readily to such operations.

The invention consists essentially in primarily producing sheet metal stock or blanks for the manufacture of articles of the general nature last above set forth, by mechanically thinning all of the areas of the dead-soft sheet or blank except those that must remain dead-soft or substantially so. This may be accomplished in several different ways, depending, primarily, upon the construction of the finished articles to be produced from the sheet or blank.

In the case of curtain rods of the type above described and illustrated in the draw ings, it is most cheaply and best accomplished by first cuttin a sheet of dead-soft stock into strips or lilanks of thendesired sha e and size and then passing said strips or lanks between two steel rolls, one there of having a smooth cylindrical face preferably the exact width of the strip and the other thereof having a cylindrical face formed with a pattern to be applied to one surface of the strip. The drawings exem lify several of such patterns but, in eac instance, the pattern impression avbids the respective side edge ortions of the stri over a width substantial y double that of the of the impression, the unpatterned areas remaining sufficiently soft to permit the sharp bendin or folding thereof.

An a ternative method is to first fold over the side edges of the strip and thereafter impress the pattern into the desired area, and effect a forced elongation of the double thick portions by subjecting them to roller pressure tending to thin the same simultaneously with the impression of the pattern into the single thick area or portions thereof.

In the case'of rods of the ordinary type, of single thickness throughout, the pattern may cover the entire area of the strip or blank and its depth and extent determined by the degree of hardness desired to be imparted to the metal.

The hardness imparted by the above method differs materially from 'so-called temper in that the metal possesses rigidity rather than resiliency. It is, therefore, better adapted for curtain rods than a resilient stock for the reason that it is not so easily flexed and is therefore not as liable to sag or twist under the-influence of weight.

Curtain rods are generally made in two distinct types, one being known as telescopically extensible and the other as cutto-fit. The latter are made only in long, strai ht lengths and adapted for cutting to any desired shorter pieces for assembly with end fittings to fit a window casing of given width. The telescopically extensible type, on the other hand, is made up at the factory ready for the consumers use without cutting, each unit consisting of two telesc0pical y interfitted members, each of which terminates in-an end portion extending sub stantially perpendicularly to its main or telescopic portion, as shown in the catalog above referred to and in a number of my prior patents. (See U. S. Patents Nos. 1,187,914; 1,240,582; 1,245,354and 1,250,190).

The bending of the telescopic type must beefi'ected after it is formed into straight lengths such as are illustrated in the drawings herewith" and in the manufacture of this t e of rod it is essential that the hardness 0 the metal efiected by the pattern implression shall not be too great to prevent suc subsequent bending without resort to annealing. It is preferable, in the manufacture of rods of this type, to adopt the general class of patterns shown in Figs. 3 and 5 wherein alternate areas are left free of pattern impressions as I find this preferable p to patterning the whole area as exemplified ig. i. This permits of a deeper pattern are impression in the pattern areas as distinguished from the plain areas, the latter obviously coacting with the pattern areas to produce attractive designs and effects, the particular pattern to be imparted being determined with respect to proportions and relative locations of plain and depressed or pattern areas, b the particular conditions attending the furt er manipulation or forming of the strip or blank to produce the finished article out of a single piece of metal.

While I have mentioned rolls for effecting the impressions, it will be obvious that any other means or devices adapted to the purpose may be substituted for or used in conjunction with the rolls.

It will also be understood that depressions of any type may be substituted forthose illustrated as it is the compression of the metal, wholly independently of design, that determines the degree of hardness imparted to it, the employment of what may be termed fanciful impressions being merely selective and usually preferable to other types.

The product, as illustrated in the drawings, comprises a curtain rod or the like composed of a single piece of metal presenting soft edge portions and a harder intermediate area which may, at will, include softer stripes or spots. It may also, be defined as composed of dead-soft metal mechanically hardened to a predetermined degree, at least in part, and wherein such hardening is determined by the depth and area of a fanciful pattern impressed into one face of the metal.

In carrying out the invention, it will be obvious that I not only gain in the stiffness or rigidity of the metal as well as the ornamentation thereof, but also gain from five to ten per cent in the length of the stri or blank by elongation .thereof, thereby 0 viously producing a lighter and stiffer structure at no appreciably greater cost than that of the plain rods heretofore manufactured.

I claim as my invention:

1. A channeled structure, such as it ourtain rod, formed of sheet metal normally soft to facilitate bending but insufficiently rigid for ultimate purposes, strengthened and reinforced to the increased degree required by a distortion of the metal at spaced but closely associated points over the surface thereof, said distortion bein constituted by an impressed design creating relatively condensed and uncondensed metal areas.

2. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of sheet metal normally soft to facilitate bending but insufficiently rigid for ultimate purposes, strengthened and reinforced to the increased degree required by a conjoint distortion and compression of the metal at spaced but closely associated points over the surface thereof thereby constituting alternate hard and soft areas.

3. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of sheet metal normally too soft for ultimate purposes, compressed in spaced but closely associated areas to create the required rigidity and cooperate with th adjacent normal portions in creating a distinctive surface ornamentation.

4. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of sheet metal possessing relatively soft and hard areas, soft areas being disposed at the folds or bends, and the hard areas adjoining said last mentioned soft areas assisting in maintaining said folds or bends in predetermined position.

5. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of'sheet metal normally soft to facilitate bending but insufficiently rigid for ultimate purposes, hardened in spaced but closely associated areas to afford the strength required, the hardened areas, also serving in creating surface ornamenta tion.

6. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of sheet metal normally too soft for ultimate purposes, hardened in spaced but closely associated areas to afford the strength required, the hardened areas also serving in creating surface ornamentation.

7. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of sheet metal having alternate areas of varying degrees of hardness, the harder portions reinforcing the softer portions at the bends or folds.

8. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of sheet metal having alternate areas of varying degrees of hardness, the harder portions cooperating with the softer portions to create rigidity through out the structure.

9. A channeled structure, such as a curtain rod, formed of sheet metal having alternate areas of varying degrees of hardness, the harder portions reinforcing the body of the structure intermediate, the

flanges thereof.

CH LESQW. KIRSCH. 

